Willie Simpson

Tag: British Rock

  • Syd Barrett, Pink Floyd, Jugband Blues

    Welcome to the unassuming beginning of Pink Floyd Week here at williesimpson.com.  My good friend Andrew Lee turned me on to this fantastic early Pink Floyd video of Syd Barrett’s last major contribution to the bands creative identity, “Jugband Blues,” from 1968’s A Saucerful of Secrets.  It makes sense that Barrett, now driving head first…

  • The Sex Pistols, God Save the Queen

    At last we get to see Sid Vicious performing with the band.  In my last Sex Pistols post, it was Glen Matlock in the promo vid for “Anarchy in the UK.”  It’s probably not Sid playing bass on the actual track, but its cool to see the icon of the group thrashing about in this…

  • Eric Clapton, Have You Ever Loved a Woman

    The incredible and sweaty bluesman you see in the beginning is Freddie King.  Don’t be confused, this is a Clapton video, but its culled from a never released Martin Scorsese PBS documentary on Clapton’s heroes called, “Nothing But the Blues.”  Well, it was shown, but never released on DVD, one of the mysteries of modern…

  • John Lennon, Imagine (Live)

    “Imagine” is the sort of song played by rock stars young and old to honor the memory of dearly departed John Lennon.  It’s kind of sad in a way that its turned into a memorial dirge of sorts, obscuring it’s utopian message of peace and harmony due its tragic association with the author’s horrible death. …

  • John Lennon, #9 Dream

    I was sneaking under a bus parked over a snowy muddy pit.  I jostled a hinge holding the front of the truck to the freight, and it began to collapse on me.  As it caved in on me, I genuinely thought I was going to die.  This was the phrase that went through my mind,…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #2, The Beatles, Twist and Shout

    There is no tonal quality more life affirming, more charging, and more powerful than the one found in John Lennon’s voice during his rendition of the Isley Brothers tune, “Twist and Shout.”  It’s the vocal performance that electrified the ears of the world; a singularity of rock and roll perfection, and simply among the greatest…

  • Greatest Rock Vocalists #4, Queen, Bohemian Rhapsody

    Never mind the image of the Muppets and Gonzo up there, that’s just some funny picture I found, this post is dedicated to the golden pipes of the late great Freddie Mercury, the fourth greatest vocalist in rock and roll history.  Possessing the voice of a fallen angel, rocking vociferously as he descends to the…

  • Spencer Davis Group, Gimmie Some Lovin', I'm a Man (Live)

    Emerging like the God of blue-eyed soul in the first video below, 16 year Steve Winwood delivers one of the best rock vocal performances of all time in the seminal hit, “Gimmie Some Lovin.’”  In 1965, rock and roll’s first ever teenage prodigy churned out a series of hits with the Spencer Davis Group before…

  • Dire Straits, Money For Nothing

    Brothers in Arms was one of my favorite albums growing up.  I remember when my dad bought a CD Stereo system in 1989 (a huge awesome piece of audio tech in those days), he bought a boatload of CDs, and this Dire Straits classic was one of them.  It was also right around the time…

  • The Rolling Stones, Gimmie Shelter, First Performance Ever!

    Like the title says, this video represents the first time the Rolling Stones played, “Gimmie Shelter” in public.  They played the song on “Pop Go the Sixties,” a variety show no doubt, (the 60s were rife with them,) and they pull it off as good as they ever would.  Made for the brilliant Let it…